Pickled Pears
by Sashi Mizumoto
Summary: After Luna is mysteriously transferred over to the Gryffindor house, everyone is suspicious of her. Except for Ron, who has just suffered a terrible blow to the heart. Couples: RonxLuna, HarryxHermione, DracoxGinny
1. Prolouge

Pickled Pears

By Sashi Mizumoto

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter! I'm not making any money! This is valid through the whole story, so I don't want to write this anymore.

A/N: I haven't added written anything for a long time. I thought my muse had deserted me. But, after an extremely long hiatus, I am back! I may be a little slow at updating, as I am rewritting all of my fanfictions. I guess I should never really give up on my little muse. I hope everyone likes this, I haven't written a Harry Potter fanfiction in a very long time. At first, I wondered about whether or not I should post all of this story at once so as not to torture the readers with suspense, but I decided against this. There will be a weekly update, unless I note otherwise. And ususally, it's for a good reason. With all of this said, please enjoy 'Pickled Pears'! Mind you, I changed some things from the first five books to suit my needs of course. ;)

Prolouge

To put it simply, our hero, Ronald Weasley, was depressed.

At the end of 5th year, Hermione Granger, the bookish young woman, and Harry Potter, one of the most famous young men in the wizarding world, started to date. However, poor Ronald had been pining away for Hermione since 2nd year.

Even he had not realized his feelings until then, until that annoying prick, Gilderoy Lockhart, showed up. When he saw her blushing whenever she was around him, Ron felt a deep pain in his heart, and a great anger swelling up in his head. However, when he had seen her lying in the hospital wing, when she had succumbed to the gaze of the basilisk, he was startled to discover that his heart had fluttered. He cared for her, and he was in extreme anguish to see her in such a sorry state. He assumed that was what helped him jump into the Chamber with such determination.

However, Ron had hoped that for once, he would be lucky in the love area of his simple life. He soon decided this was a naïve thing to ask for, as he never had had any luck there. Harry, however, seemed to have the opposite problem. He had trouble keeping the girls away! Sure, there were a few times when rumours had sprung up and then everyone would avoid him, but by the end of the school year, everything was fine. Well, with the exception of 4th year. That and 5th year were probably the darkest.

Ron's mother, Molly Weasley, had always repeated a saying to him. A little plump but with a strong yet kind heart, she was never very good with words. But whenever she gave this advise to Ron, this cliché little line, he always felt a little bit better.

"Ron, just look for the silver lining."

So far, he had yet to see what he could consider a silver lining on this situation. He had received a letter from Harry shortly after the begininng of the summer. Ron had greeted Hedwig warmly, and put out some food and water for her. As she nipped playfully at his fingers, he unrolled the parchment away from her talons, not knowing the news that was awaiting him.

Hey Ron!

How are you doing? My summer's been lousy. Ever since Sirius and I have started to live together, he has had a hard time going outside. Maybe because people have been hunting for him for about 3 years? Anyway, I'm having a hard time persuading him to go outside. That stupid Peter, fouling him up like that. So, have you heard from anyone else lately? I heard that Seamus has gone off to Ireland. Heh, lucky bloke… Actually.. I was never the one to beat around the bush, but I guess I want to be a tad delicate with this situtation. Um, have you heard from Hermione lately? In case you have, then you have heard the news. In the event you didn't, I guess I'll be the one to tell you. Hemione and I have officially started dating. There's just, something about her. Maybe it's her kindness for others, or her sensitivity. Remember when we first saw her and all we could think about was how snobbish she sounded? Hermione almost beat the tar out of me when I told her that… Oh crud, Hermione's here. Don't want her to see this, eh? Well, I bet you have things to do and homework to do. Oh god, I'm starting to sound like 'Mione too! Best wishes to you Ron. I hope we can see each other before the end of the summer.

From, Harry

Ron had read all of this very carefully, rereading parts of it in case he had missed something vitally crucial. Was this a joke? Was his best friend "pulling his chain", as Americans put it? The letter slipped from his hands and fell lightly to the floor. Feeling his cheeks heat up with anger, he stomped over to his desk and roughly opened a drawer, pulling out a thin piece of parchment. He quickly dipped his quill into the ink, resulting in a huge ink blot on the letter. Disregarding this fact completely, he began to write with a verosity he had never seen in himself before.

During this plot in our story, our heroine, Luna Lovegood, was reading the Quibbler, her eyes scanning the page meacingly as if searching for some sort of a hidden message. As she neared the end of this specific issue, a small picture on the bottom of a page caught her eye. She looked down in shock and a small caption read:

Harry Potter and the Mysterious Hermione: A Couple?

The article turned out to be strung from rumours of them being seen together during the summer vacation. Luna sighed and shook her head. She racked her brain to try and find an excuse as to why her father would publish something of this nature. Usually this was left to the liars at the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly.

Thinking of Harry Potter only made her remember of his best friend, Ronald Weasley. He was a kind boy with a soft face but shocking red hair. She was clearly infatuated by him, or she thought it wasn't that surprising. She could remember more than once when she had looked at him with a dreamy quality, or with her cheeks heating up from the blood rushing to her head. Whenever she had been around him her knees would go weak. It was either a symptom of love, or there were some nargles in the immeadiate area. Deciding to go with the more romantic hunch instead, she decided that she was in love. With Ronald Weasley. There was a kindness in him that could even outshine Harry Potter's. Whenever Ronald talked of his friends, he had a sincere tone and he truly cared about their well-being. Harry, on the other hand, just wanted to get _away_ from them to protect them. How was going away from your friends making them feel any better? Wouldn't you want to be near your friends so you know they are perfectly safe?

As Luna Lovegood rolled this around in her mind, she heard a sharp tap against the window. She whirled her head around, her blonde hair getting in the way of her vision. Pulling it back into a ponytail, she walked across the room to let in the large tawny owl that had appeared. She pulled the envelope from the creature, placing the heavy envelope down on the table. She walked into her spacious kitchen and pulled out some lettuce from the refridgerator and took out a fresh water bottle, pouring some water for the poor owl. As she settled down and looked back at what she had received, she realized it was the annual Hogwarts letter. She ripped it open excitedly, but was a little more than shocked when she saw an unusually casual letter stuffed in there.

Dear Miss Luna Lovegood,

Due to some recent interactions between you and some Gryffindor students, I have thought it best that you were to switch houses as soon as this new school year begins. I have arranged for the new Head Boy and Head Girl to show you around, and to help you for the first few weeks. I hope you have had a pleasant summer, and if you have any questions, do not be so shy as to hide them.

Sincerely,

Professor A. Dumbledore

Luna smiled happily, her eyes twinkling in excitement. "Ronald… I hope this will be as happy a time for you as it is for me."

A/N: Well, this was kinda hard for me to write. I find it's quite hard to catch Luna's weird behaviours. And to be perfectly honest, I don't know how to write her thoughts all that well. xD; If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE help me by putting some ideas in the comments! And do NOT ask to be in the story, there are no original characters.


	2. Chapter 1

Pickled Pears

By Sashi Mizumoto

**Chapter 1**

Ron ran down the stairs, lugging his trunk behind him. It was an old thing made of blue fabric that was torn and faded in spots. He had wanted to get a new one, but as he was entering his 6th year, there was just too much to do and too much to buy.

'Maybe this summer I should try getting a job. Harry says most Muggle kids our age have one anyway.'

After Harry had sent the letter about him and Hermione, Ron had started to write an angry letter. However, as he kept writing, he felt the anger flow out of him. He crumpled the letter up as soon as he was finished writing it, and he felt large waves of sorrow hit against his heart. He knew this whole affair was not Harry's fault. If it was anyone's fault, it was his own. He should have talked to Hermione earlier, and then perhaps he would be the one dating her! He had decided to not tell anyone of his feelings for Hermione, and he started putting on a façade of happiness after that. If no one knew, he couldn't accidentally hurt anyone, right?

He ran towards the fireplace, looking towards his family. They were all disgruntled, and looked a little annoyed.

"Well come on then Ron! We'll miss the train if you don't hurry up!" Ginny motioned with her hand for him to hurry up.

The Weasley family had been extremely stressed over the summer. Percy was still estranged from his family, and refused to talk to anyone now. Arthur had heard at the Ministry that Percy had bought a new apartment near Diagon Alley. Fred and George had opened a joke shop in Diagon Alley and their business was flourishing. They had mocked their mother for weeks about this, and they kept telling Ginny that she didn't need school to succeed in life. Mrs. Weasley had stopped cooking them dinner for a month, forcing them to try to cook for themselves. Bill was working overtime more than usual, training their new banker, Fleur. He had been asked to "help her" the first few months she would work there. Charlie had been burned severely while training a particularly fierce dragon and he had been asked to take a rest in Europe. Occasionally they got an owl from him, but it usually just said something about sleeping. Ginny had been going to many Muggle places with her new Muggle friends. Usually they went to a place called a "mall." Mrs. Weasley had been having enough trouble keeping the home intact without having to bother with the new, rude neighbors. Mr. Weasley had been working harder than ever at the Ministry, trying to earn more money for everyone. Ron had just been staying at home, writing to people mainly, but also working on homework he had gotten over the summer. He had wanted to follow Hermione's example…

As he reached the fireplace, he scooped his hand into the Floo Powder, allowing it to smoothly recede from his hand. He shouted "King's Cross!" and bent his elbows in, letting himself be carried away to the place he was so used to seeing every summer.

Luna sighed and put her blonde hair into a messy ponytail, her new mushroom earrings jingling lightly. She sat down in the train compartment, feeling a sense of queasiness in the pit of her stomach. Perhaps it was because she was switching houses, switching to the same house as Ronald. On the other hand, perhaps it was because he was standing right outside of the compartment.

"Hi Luna. Mind if we join you? Everywhere else is full…"

Luna smiled gently and nodded, not noticing that he had used the word 'we.' All that Luna could see was Ronald, standing before her in the glow of the sunlight. A small voice in Luna's head could only echo her worst thoughts, 'Luna, don't forget. He's only here as a last resort. If there were any other open compartments, they would be sitting there…' Luna could only feel a little bit annoyed after pointing that out to herself.

Ron sat down and close behind him were Hermione and Harry. While they were trying not to be affectionate so they wouldn't draw attention to themselves, once in awhile Harry would kiss her playfully on the cheek. Hermione pretended to be angry, but anyone could clearly tell that she was secretly thrilled.

Luna glanced over at Ron, and she could see that he was uneasy. She felt a prick of sadness as she saw him glance at Hermione, but she kept her smile plastered on her face.

She quickly turned back to Harry and Hermione, worried that Ron could have noticed her looking at him. She decided to break the silence, and she cleared her throat loudly. Harry and Hermione looked up at her, and Ron turned away from Hermione and looked over as well.

"So Harry, Hermione, how long have you two been together?"

Harry had a light blush rise to his cheek and Hermione picked that moment to take out a book and started reading.

"Well, we made this choice at the end of the last school year. It just, happened!"

Harry smiled and put his arm around Hermione's shoulder. Though her face was still staring down at the book, Hermione's ears were turning a bright pink. This was just another oddity that she had in common with Ron.

Luna nodded slowly, being strangely serious for once. "Well, I hope you don't muck this up like you did with Cho, Harry."

Not wanting to talk anymore, she took out an issue of the Quibbler and started reading, though Harry's face was glaring at hers.

As the students could see Hogwarts on the horizon, the group of four in the compartment decided to put on their robes. As Luna adjusted her robes, Hermione looked over at her and noticed the golden and scarlet emblem of Gryffindor securely placed over the Ravenclaw one.

"Luna, I think you may perhaps have the wrong robes. You have a Gryffindor symbol, but you'r-"

"I was switched to the Gryffindor house. Dumbledore gave me a letter so I could get new robes."

Everyone had a shocked look on their face and Harry demanded to see the letter. He scanned it quickly and, once saying that it was valid, started to talk vividly to Hermione. Luna looked over shyly at Ron and moved over to him, watching him struggle with his tie.

"Here Ronald, let me."

Without waiting for a response, Luna took the red and golden tie from his hands and started to tie it for him. She nimbly moved her fingers, weaving the tie in, out, and around. She finished it off with an elaborate hand gesture and gave a tug before nodded down curtly at the firm Windsor knot she had created.

"There. That wasn't too bad, was it Ronald?" Luna looked up at him, a dreamy look in her eyes. Ron gave her a weak smile and nodded.

"Thank you Luna." Luna smiled. He hadn't called her Loony Lovegood…

A/N: No reviews yet… T.T


	3. Chapter 2

Pickled Pears

By Sashi Mizumoto

A/N: Well, I thought about abandoning this story, but after the two kind reviews, I decided to keep going. I've been a little busy lately, making up schoolwork from being sick recently, but I'm back on the ball and writing again! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! By the way, did anyone else notice my knowledge about ties:D 

**Chapter 2**

The rest of the train ride was uneventful, other than the tense silence in the compartment. After the argument between Harry and Hermione about Luna's entrance to their House, they had decided to sit opposite each other. Hermione was now sitting next to Ron and Harry was sitting next to Luna. Ron felt extremely nervous about this seating arrangement, but said nothing. Harry could tell there was something bothering him, but he couldn't understand what it could be.

'God this is pathetic. I've been his best friend for six years and I can't even tell what's wrong with him anymore! And if I ask him, he'll just deny it all. What should I do…?'

While Harry was lamenting over his problem, Ron was having one of his own. Hermione just looked dreadfully upset, and Ron wasn't sure what to do. Was a hug not friendly enough? Was a kiss on the cheek too friendly? Ron didn't know what to do! He could feel his ears burning in embarrassment, so he did the only thing he could think to do: pretend to be asleep.

As he covered his head with his robe and started making fake snoring sounds, Luna glanced over at him. She may not have been his best friend for six years like Harry, but she was in love with him. And it was obvious (well, at least to her) that Ron was in love with Hermione.

'If Ron is happy, then I am too. Who cares if I end up with him or not?' Though no matter how many times she said it, she couldn't help but feel that she was lying to herself.

"God I'm such a loser…" she muttered it pitifully and let out a small sigh. Harry looked over at Luna and grinned, hitting her gently on the head with the back of his hand. 

"Hey Luna, anything good in the Quibbler lately?"

Luna looked up at Harry with a surprised look, though it was only there for a second before her normal dreamy expression took over. "Actually, there was a story about you in there over the summer. I was so appalled, I kept thinking what made my father print it!"

Hermione perked her head up and looked over at Luna. "Oh? Was it that bad? What was it about?"

Ron twitched slightly on hearing Hermione's voice, though this only made him increase the volume of his fake snoring.

"God Ron quit it! I know you're faking it!" Harry playfully kicked him and Ron snorted, falling out of his seat onto the ground. Hermione let out a small gasp and glared over at Harry. Luna kept her eyes focused carefully on Ron, wondering when he was going to quit whining and get off the ground.

"Harry, one of these days you're going to end up really hurting someone!" Hermione let out a small huff and pulled her book out again. Harry looked at her innocently, but she just shook her head.

"That's not going to work, Harry! You need some reprimanding!" Harry grinned playfully at her and Hermione blushed and let out a frustrated shout.

"Oh, I give up! Sometimes you're so insufferable Harry!" She slammed her book shut and got up.

"I'm going to find Ginny and sit with her. You can sit here and talk with Ron." She opened the door and stormed out. Harry looked over at Ron and shrugged.

"Women!" He looked over at Luna and felt a twinge of guilt. "Sorry you had to see that Luna. And I didn't mean all women!"

Luna shook her head and smiled. "That's alright Harry, I know what you meant." She looked back down at the issue of the Quibbler she had taken out during the little skirmish between Harry and Hermione. Harry looked over her shoulder and Luna looked up at him. She closed the magazine and handed it to Harry.

"I don't like it when people read over my shoulder. Besides, this is the issue you were in. I thought you would be interested, so I decided to bring it along for the train ride. Not that we haven't been having any entertainment so far…" Luna trailed off and spaced off, staring at the wall in front of her. Harry held out the issue and Ron held one of the pages up while Harry scanned it, looking for his name. He finally found it and pointed to indicate to Ron as well, as Ron had been preoccupied with the article focusing on the troll protest in Gringotts. His eyes roamed the other page and gasped when he saw what Harry was pointing at. The picture was one of Harry and Hermione during the summer vacation, while they had been walking together in Diagon Alley. She had been laughing and he had had the liberty of putting his arm around her shoulder. The headline was simple and direct:

_Harry Potter and the Mysterious Hermione: A Couple?_

Ron let out a small gasp and glared down at the magazine. "What the? Luna, this doesn't seem like something your dad would publish!" Harry nodded in agreement and sighed. "Ugh, why did they have to drag Hermione into all of this? Why couldn't they leave her out of this and just say that there were rumours that I was going out with someone? Really, they should ask a person before publishing stuff like this!"

"But, it's true, isn't it Harry?"

Harry looked over at Luna, who had been acting differently so far since he had last seen her. Normally, she wasn't so…ready to pick a fight! Harry scanned her face with his bright eyes and decided to talk to her about this fact later. He didn't want anyone to hate him, and he had a feeling that deep within, Luna had more emotions than she cared to reveal.

Harry decided to put this in the back of his mind for now before returning to the matter at hand. "Yes, it is true Luna! But that doesn't mean that they have to publish it! I never wanted my whole life to be open to the public! As if I were a zoo animal, locked away from humanity yet stared at by everyone! I just want… to be a normal kid!" Harry stood up, suddenly feeling angry. He knew within his heart that this wasn't Luna's fault, but he felt that he needed to blame someone. Harry decided to leave before he said anymore. "I'm… going to go look for the food cart. I'm in the mood for some chocolate frogs." Harry walked out of the compartment, leaving Luna and Ron alone. Ron looked down at the ground, wondering what could possibly be wrong with himself. He had felt a little odd for awhile, though he couldn't place why. As he was contemplating what he had done, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ronald?" Ron looked up at Luna, who smiled dreamily at him.

"Are you feeling alright Ronald?"

Ron shook his head slowly, never taking his eyes off her. "I've been feeling a bit… wonky. For awhile now actually. I don't know why though…Maybe it was a little virus I caught or something!"

Luna smiled. "Don't worry Ronald. She'll understand how much you care for her, eventually. Until then, just keep believing in her." Ron's eyes widened, but before he could say anything more, the train stopped.

"Ronald, I'm sure this year is going to be an interesting one." As Luna stood up, Ron stopped thinking. He didn't know what was happening, but Luna almost looked like an angel, the way the moonlight was shining in her thin golden hair, and the way the lake and stars shone so brightly.

'Argh, stupid hormones. Making my thoughts all screwy.' He dismissed the thought quickly and picked up the forgotten Quibbler. As he made his way to give it back to Luna, he stopped. He quickly folded it and put it in his pant pocket, and started running off to find Harry.


End file.
